Snow plow hitch



Sept. 26, 1967 M G STAUSS ET Al. 3,343,850

SNOW PLOW HITCH Filed March 21, 1966 A 2 sheets-sheet 1 Sept. 26, 1967 M, G, STAUSS ET AL. 3,343,850

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a," Evy www( H @Si Uawzeys United States Patent O 3,343,850 SNOW PLOW HITCH Martin G. Stauss, Burlington, and John J. Survelas, Arlington, Mass., assignors to Anderson Engineering Co. Inc., Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Mar. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 535,769 6 Claims. (Cl. 280-504) This invention relates to snow plows, and pertains more particularly to a connector for attaching a snow plow to the pusher frame of a truck or similar vehicle.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a connector, for mounting a snow plow on a pusher bar of a vehicle, which can be readily and quickly connected and disconnected without the use of tools. Another object is to provide a connection which, although readily detachable, is suiliciently rigid to withstand the stresses to which a plow is normally subjected and cannot be accidentally jarred loose when the vehicle travels over rough terrain.

The connector consists essentially of a socket which is mounted on the pusher bar of the vehicle and a tongue which is connected to the snow plow. When the plow is in place the tongue is received in the socket. The tongue has a raised end portion which is engaged by a swinging latch plate. The latch plate is normally held down into engagement with the raised portion of the tongue by a pair of springs. A cam plate having a sloping slot is attached to the latch plate. A lever mounted on the socket extends through the slot and is rotatable to ride along the oblique surface of the slot and raise the latch plate, against the pressure of the spring, out of engagement with the hooked portion of the tongue. The tongue can then be withdrawn and the plow detached from the pusher bar. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the connection will be apparent from the following description.

In the drawings illustrating the invention:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away illustrating a snow plow hitch constructed according to the invention, with the tongue detached from the socket;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along line 2 2 of FIG. l showing the tongue in place in the socket;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken along line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the cam plate.

The socket has a generally trapezoidal hollow frame with a top wall 10a, a bottom wall 10b and side walls 19C and 10d. The socket is mounted on the vehicle by welding or bolting Wall 10d to the pusher bar 11 of the vehicle. Converging inner walls 12 and 13 form, with walls 10a and 10b, a cavity 14 for receiving the tongue.

Disposed in the cavity is a latch plate 15 having a shaft 16 attached to its upper end. The shaft is received in a generally tubular hinge 17, which is welded to the top wall 10a. One or more studs 18' bear on the latch plate 15 and are slidably mounted in the top wall 10a. The heads 18a of the studs are engaged by coil springs 19 which are mounted in housings 20. The latch plate is normally urged downward, or in the counter clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 2, by the springs 19 bearing against the studs.

A cam plate 21 is attached to the latch plate 15 near its free end and has a generally triangular opening 22 forming an oblique cam surface 21a. Lever 23 is rotatably mounted on a stud 24 mounted on the top wall 10a. The lever is secured in place by a nut 25 engaging the upper end of the Stud. The lever has a handle portion 23a and an end portion 23!) which projects through opening 22. When the lever is in the position shown in FIG. 1, portion 23b engages the highest part of surface Patented Sept. 26, 1967 of 21a and plate 15 is in its down position. By rotating lever 23 clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 1, portion 23b is caused to travel along the cam surface 21a, thus raising latch plate 15. The cam plate has a notch 22a next to the lower end of surface 21a, in which the lever locks to hold the plate in raised position.

The tongue portion of the hitch, generally indicated by the numeral 26, `consists of a back plate 27 which is ordinarily connected by welding or bolting tothe supporting frame 28 of the snow plow. The tongue has a hookshaped end portion 26a with a rear surface 26b. The tongue and socket portions are connected together by sliding the tongue under latch plate 15 until the edge 15a of the latch plate engages surface 26h. Sprin-gs 19 yield sufficiently to allow the latch plate to ride over the hook portion of 26a. Once the tongue is engaged with the latch plate, as shown in FIG. 2, any force tending to dislodge the tongue from the socket, that is in the direction of arrow 2S, will tend to rotate the latch plate counter clockwise and lock the plate and tongue together more firmly. When the tongue is in place the back plate 27 is engaged by bumpers 29 and 30 mounted on wall 10c which brace the plow assembly against side sway. The tongue also has converging side walls 26C and 26d which bear against walls 12 and 13 of the socket and tend to minimize side sway.

To disengage the plow from the vehicle all that is necessary is to rotate lever 23, until it enga-ges in notch 22a. The latch plate is thus raised, and locked in raised position, so that the tongue assembly can be slid out.

It is understood that the mounting of the tongue and socket portions of the connector may be reversed, that is the socket may be mounted on the plow and the tongue on the truck. The connector may also be used as a draw bar connection.

The connector permits a plow to be attached and disconnected quickly and easily. The parts do not have to be accurately aligned before attaching the plow, as the tapered socket and tongue will automatically align themselves as the tongue is pushed in. No tools are required for attaching or disconnecting the plow to the vehicle.

What is claimed is:

1. A snow plow connector comprising separable socket and tongue members, said socket having a cavity in which said tongue member is received, a latch plate swingably mounted on said socket in said cavity, spring means urging said latch plate into engagement with said tongue member, a cam plate connected to said latch plate and having an oblique cam surface sloping toward said latch plate, and a lever rotatably mounted on said socket member, said lever having a portion which is engaged with said cam surface and is adapted when said lever is turned to swing said latch plate out of engagement with said tongue member.

2. A connector as described in claim 1, said tongue member including a back plate disposed outside said socket member, and said socket member including spaced bumpers engaging said back plate.

3. A connector as described in claim 1, including spring means urging said latch plate toward said tongue member.

4. A connector as described in claim 1, said socket having an opening through which said tongue member extends into said cavity, said tongue member having a raised portion with a bearing surface facing toward said socket opening, said latch plate having an end portion engaging said bearing surface and being hinged to said socket in a region between said surface and said socket opening.

5. A connector as described in claim 1, said cam plate having a notch communicating with the opening therein adjacent to the part of said surface nearest said latch plate.

6. A connecor as described in claim 1, said socket having converging inner side walls defining the sides of said cavity, and said tongue member having converging side Surfaces engaging said side Walls.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,602,389 7/1952 'Markel 94-47 4 2,701,510 2/ 1955 Altgelt 97-47.14 2,904,116 9/ 1959 Vessendorf 172-275 2,996,127 8/1961 Dunn 172-275 BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

I. E. SIEGEL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SNOW PLAW CONNECTOR COMPRISING SEPARABLE SOCKET AND TONGUE MEMBERS, SAID SOCKET HAVING A CAVITY IN WHICH SAID TONGUE MEMBER IS RECEIVED, A LATCH PLATE SWINGABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SOCKET IN SAID CAVITY, SPRING MEANS URGING SAID LATCH PLATE INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID TONGUE MEMBER, A CAM PLATE CONNECTED TO SAID LATCH PLATE AND HAVING AN OBLIQUE CAM SURFACE SLOPING TOWARD SAID LATCH PLATE, AND A LEVER ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SOCKET MEMBER, SAID LEVER HAVING A PORTION WHICH IS ENGAGED WITH SAID CAM SURFACE AND IS ADAPTED WHEN SAID LEVER IS TURNED TO SWING SAID LATCH PLATE OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID TONQUE MEMBER. 